CSUN Hosts Long Beach St. on ESPN3, Hawai'i on Prime Ticket

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (9-12, 5-3 BWC) returns to the court this week for a pair of Big West Conference games at The Matadome. The Matadors host Long Beach State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 and Hawai'i on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Prime Ticket. Audio only broadcasts will be available for both contests on the CSUN Sports Network with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call. Saturday night's game with the Rainbow Warriors will be a part of a CSUN Basketball Doubleheader, following CSUN Women's Basketball hosting the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine at 4 p.m.

The Matadors are coming off a pair of impressive road victories last week. CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara, 78-57, at the Thunderdome behind a career-high 17 points from Rakim Lubin and a double-double from Tavrion Dawson (13 rebounds, 11 points). Micheal Warren scored 13 points off the bench and both Darin Johnson and Kendall Smith each scored 12 points. The Matadors concluded the week with a 63-59 win over UC Riverside at the SRC Center. Dawson registered his third double-double of the season as he finished with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Highlanders. Smith forced a key turnover with six seconds left to help CSUN hold on for the four-point win. Warren had another strong game off the bench versus UC Riverside as he scored 12 points and hit a 3-pointer with a minute to play to give CSUN a lead it would not relinquish.

Third in the conference standings, the Matadors have hit the halfway mark of the Big West season with their first winning record since 2011. Holding a 4-1 mark in road conference games this season, the team has also posted its most wins on the road in conference play in six seasons.

With back-to-back double-doubles, Dawson received his second Big West Player of the Week award on Monday. Totaling 33 points and 25 rebounds last week, Dawson has averaged 14.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in Big West play this season. Overall, Dawson is fourth in the Big West in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and sixth in points per game (14.3) as well as third in field goal percentage (54.6). Earlier this season, Dawson nabbed Big West Player of the Week honors on December 5.

Senior guard Aaron Parks is set to reach 1,000 career points during the Matadors' homestand. Currently at 990 points, Parks would become the 19th Matador in team history to ever score at least 1,000 points. Among an array of CSUN greats, Parks would join former teammates Stephan Hicks (2011-15), Josh Greene (2010-14) and Stephen Maxwell (2011-15) in the elite club. Second all-time in scoring, Maxwell is the last Matador to accomplish the feat.

Heading into the week, Smith is currently tops in the Big West in assists (4.7) and second in scoring (15.9). Three other Matadors are also scoring in double figures, which includes Dawson, Johnson (13.0) and Parks (11.0). Behind Dawson's 6.4 rebounds per game, Lubin is pulling down 5.5 boards per game to go along 9.1 points per game.

Long Beach State leads the all-time series with the Matadors, 39-23, after CSUN earned an 89-82 win at the Pyramid earlier this season. Smith scored a game-high 26 points at Long Beach State on January 11 while Johnson scored 20 points. CSUN seeks its first season sweep of the 49ers since 2008. In games played at CSUN, the teams have split 26 all-time meetings but LBSU has won the last two contests.

Hawai'i improved to 13-4 all-time against the Matadors with a 80-77 win at Stan Sheriff Center on Jan. 18. Smith once again led CSUN in scoring in the game with 20 points but a last second 3-pointer from Leland Green sealed the win for the Rainbow Warriors. CSUN has dropped the last five meetings with Hawai'i including two-straight games at The Matadome.

A Closer Look at Long Beach State
The 49ers improved to 9-14 overall and 4-3 in Big West play with a 76-65 win over Cal State Fullerton at home last Thursday. Long Beach State has won three-straight games and is one-half game behind CSUN for third place in the Big West standings. In conference play, the 49ers are averaging a Big West best 83.0 points per game and 39.7 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.

In the backcourt, junior guards Evan Payne and Justin Bibbins have led the team in scoring this season. Payne has scored a team-best 15.0 points per game and shot 36.4 percent from 3-point land while Bibbins has averaged 12.2 points per game to go along with 4.2 assists. Junior Roschon Prince has picked up the slack on the boards after top rebounder Gabe Levin went down with an injury. Prince has averaged 6.3 rebounds and 8.5 points.

A Closer Look at Hawai'i
Hawai'i owns a 9-11 record and a 3-4 mark in conference competition. Before facing the Matadors, Hawai'i will head to UC Riverside on Thursday evening. Last week, the Rainbow Warriors fell to UC Riverside, 70-64, but defeated UC Santa Barbara, 78-56, to conclude a five-game homestand. As a team, Hawai'i has averaged a conference-best free throw percentage of 73.8.

Senior Noah Allen leads the team in scoring with 14.0 points per game to go along with 5.7 rebounds. Also averaging in double figures, junior Gibson Johnson is posting 10.6 points this season on 49.7 percent shooting. Sophomore Brocke Stepteau is seventh in the conference in assists per game (3.0) while he is scoring 7.2 points per game.

CSUN Hosts Long Beach St. on ESPN3, Hawai'i on Prime Ticket

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Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Darin Johnson

Rakim Lubin

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren